I'm excited to share the details and inspiration for my eighth historical romance, The Paris Affair! The Paris Affair tells the story of Charlotte Bray who volunteers her French speaking skills to the War Office during WW2. Quickly accepted, she leaves her home in Cornwall for London, not realising that it is the first step on an adventurous, but ultimately dangerous journey to Nazi occupied Paris as a Special Operations Executive agent. Pierre Lesieur, a handsome Frenchman, is with her every step of the way, either by her side or in her head. Unfortunately it appears he is not necessarily on her side. Can she trust him? Can he rely on her?

I was inspired to write about a female Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent when I was on holiday in the Isles of Scilly. On one of the beautiful islands is a plaque commemorating the secret naval flotillas which transferred agents, mail and equipment to Breton fishing boats off the coast of Nazi occupied France during WW2. This was a surprise to me as I was unaware of the role the Isles of Scilly played in helping agents cross the channel during the war. Discovering something new often raises more questions, so when I returned home I began my research. Who were the people who manned these flotillas? Who were the agents? How were the agents selected? What training did they undertake? What were their roles?

Some of the agents trained by the SOE
(Special Operations Executive Museum, Beaulieu Estate)

I came away from my research with immense respect for all the people involved. These individuals were willing to put themselves in immense danger to help defeat Hitler. Some were recruited from the forces, but many were civilians with no previous military training at all. British women had never been sent into combat before, but this did not stop their selection by the secret organisation. Few people, even those with high ranking roles in the military, knew that the SOE existed so the selected trainees could tell no one about what they were doing or where they were going to be sent, not even their families. Nazi occupied territory was their destination. Their roles were to blend into the community, deliver equipment, undertake sabotage (in all its forms), carry out reconnaissance and send back vital information that could help the Allies in their offensive. The risk of capture was high and many agents were tortured and executed. Those who survived and returned home could not discuss what they had done during the war due to the Official Secrets Act.

Just some of the disguised devises used by SOE agents

My fictional story of Charlotte Bray, which was inspired by historical facts and events, is my way of paying homage to the incredible men and women who risked their lives so others could live in a free, democratic country again. The Paris Affair is ultimately a love story set during one of the bleakest periods in our history. Join Charlotte and Pierre in London and Nazi-occupied Paris, when even the heartache and destruction of war cannot stop a new romance blossoming. 

Born to a French mother and an English father, Charlotte Bray has always felt like an outsider in her small Cornish fishing village.
She spends her days on her father’s fishing boat, helping to feed a nation at war.

But the war brings devastation, and it’s not long until it reaches Charlotte’s front door. Her world is rocked and forever changed by tragedy.

With nothing left to lose, she accepts a mysterious invitation to work for the War Office as a spy.
Nothing is as it seems, and she finds herself in Nazi-occupied Paris with a new identity.

Charlotte begins working under the sombre but handsome Frenchman Pierre Lesieur. But do his allegiances lie elsewhere?

With the Gestapo at every corner and networks falling all around her, Charlotte feels danger closing in on her.

And nothing is more dangerous than her growing feelings for Pierre.

Charlotte has been taught how to defend herself from the enemy. But not how to protect her heart . . .

KIndle UK
Kindle US